> In the interests of full disclosure I should add that I was also persuaded to commit a series of small crimes during my sojourn at the hospital, and which I hope I can safely confess at this remove of half a century. I stole pituitary glands. About a hundred of them over the months. A research hospital had need of them—pituitaries produce a multitude of hormones, including the one that makes us grow, and I proved myself quite adept at finding them: a quick probe inside the base of the brain with my fingers, and the pea-sized gland would pop out of its cavity like a snail out of its shell. Each time I collected a jar full, a furtive man in a white coat would come around to collect them, handing over a five-pound note in exchange. If ever I felt squeamish, the man reassured me that those to whom the glands belonged would be unlikely to feel the loss, nor to complain.
There was a big scandal in England over the unauthorised removal of organs. Partly this was because doctors weren't explaining properly what they were doing to people who had no understanding of what was involved - "Can we remove some tissue?" instead of "can we take the heart of your dead child?"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alder_Hey_organs_scandal
> The Alder Hey organs scandal involved the unauthorised removal, retention, and disposal of human tissue, including children’s organs, during the period 1988 to 1995. During this period organs were retained in more than 2,000 pots [this is a UK term of art for plastic formalin-filled containers of various sizes which are used to store tissues in pathology labs] containing body parts from around 850 infants. These were later uncovered at Alder Hey Children's Hospital, Liverpool, during a public inquiry into the organ retention scandal.
This was discovered by people investigating another scandal - the Bristol Heart Scandal.
And it's not as if the science was any good. A lot of it was low quality; partly because the documentation of the organ origins was so poor.
Dick van Velzen did great harm and mostly got away with it.